Emperor's Birthday
December 23 is the Emperor's Birthday here in Japan, and a public holiday.
We decided to mark the occasion by going to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and being part of the allegedly huge crowd that goes every year to cheer and wave flags. Apparently this last bit is a source of controversy - apparently a number of Japanese are uncomfortable with the flag and nationalism that goes with such an event, bringing back unwanted associations with WW2. So Kathleen's Japanese teachers were not in the least bit interested.
The imperial family has three 'showings', with the earliest at 10.30am. We got up early to beat the crowds, and got to Tokyo station at roughly 10. Tokyo station is beautiful - totally unlike any other railway station I've seen here, since it is modelled on an Amsterdam building.
The castle itself was a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting a magnificant Japanese-style castle, similar to the ones Kyoto is famous for. The constant rebuilding of Tokyo castle, due to earthquakes, fire, and war-time bombing means that not much of the pre-1970 construction remains, with the result that the place resembles a large hotel.
But the moat and surrounding gardens make up for it, and look appropriately feudal. We got frisked as we went through the elaborate police line, which was a little weird. Apart from that, it was just a nice walk through some gates, along the tree-lined driveway.
We joined a large crowd, with a fair number of Westerners. At the back of the crowd were the nationalists, the Japanese right-wingers. They had large flags, most had short, shaved hair, which was weird to see on a Japanese! They weren't really initimidating, but their views on Japan's role in WW2 probably won't win them many friends in Australia.
So at the appointed time, the Emperor and the rest of the royal family emerged from inside on to the balcony, and the crowd
went
NUTS.
Japanese are generally reserved, and in public you won't get any reaction out of them no matter what you do, but as soon as they saw the Emperor, the flags were waved like there was no tomorrow, everyone was cheering, and the nationalist guys at the back of the crowd started chanting and pumping their fists.
As soon as the Emperor started talking, everyone just shut up instantly! He spoke for a few sentences, the royal family went back inside, and everyone just turned and walked towards the exit. It was like the general public had a script that they followed; we just followed their lead.
As we left, we spotted what had to be the best job in the world. Two police, sitting in a small rubber raft in the moat, just in case anyone fell in. It was a peaceful spot, and all they needed were a few cans and a fishing line, and they'd be set.
Since it was pretty early, about midday, we headed to Ginza, to the Sony Building, which is the showroom for all the cool stuff that Sony is developing, like the Aibo robot dogs and the VAIO laptops.
